Movie actor Dmitry Dyuzhev stood up for football players Alexander Kokorin and Pavel Mamaev, accusing the investigation of bias and playing for popular effect. Dyuzhev compared the case with the trial of the Soviet Torpedo FC football player Eduard Streltsov, who was sentenced to five years in prison.

“The cause of such harsh and undeserved punishment is the [current] political situation. At that moment, it was very beneficial to show the public that the police power is so strong and impartial that even a well-known athlete, the idol of young people can be punished and sent to a [penal] colony. We are facing a similar situation now,” Dyuzhev wrote on his Instagram page.